Integrated circuit mounting tape

ABSTRACT

There is provided a highly reliable panel assembly structure capable of performing fine-pitch high-density assembling at a high yield and a low cost. A flexible wiring board has a film-like substrate with flexibility, and an IC chip is mounted in an area. In the area is provided a through hole that has plane dimensions smaller than plane dimensions of the chip and penetrates the substrate. Portions that belong respectively to an output side wiring line and an input side wiring line provided on a substrate surface and are connected respectively to an output side electrode and an input side electrode of the chip via second connection materials and are supported by the substrate surface. An output terminal of the flexible wiring board is connected to an electrode terminal formed at a peripheral portion of a panel via a first connection material, while an input terminal of the flexible wiring board is connected to an electrode terminal of a circuit board via a third connection material.

This is a divisional of application serial No. 08/505,844 filed Jul. 24,1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,700.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a panel assembly structure, anintegrated circuit mounting tape, and a manufacturing method thereof.The present invention relates, in particular, to a panel assemblystructure in which an output terminal comprised of a part of an outputside wiring line of a flexible wiring board is connected to an electrodeterminal formed at a peripheral portion of a panel, and an inputterminal comprised of a part of an input side wiring line of theflexible wiring board is connected to an electrode terminal of a wiringboard for supplying a signal to an integrated circuit for driving thepanel. The present invention also relates to an integrated circuitmounting tape in a state in which a substrate of the flexible wiringboard extends in one direction and a manufacturing method thereof.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Among various sorts of panels implemented by EL (Electroluminescence),plasma, liquid crystals, a line sensor, a line printer and the like, theliquid crystal display (LCD) panel will be described as an example. FIG.16 shows a perspective view of a prior art LCD device, while FIG. 17shows a sectional view of the device taken along a line XVII--XVII inFIG. 16.

As shown in FIG. 16, the above-mentioned LCD device includes a LCD panel101 and flexible wiring boards 104 and 105 where drive ICs (integratedcircuit chips) 102 and 103 for driving the display panel 101 are mountedrespectively on substrates 140 and 141 made of polyimide resin or thelike. There are further provided a control board 107 for outputting acontrol signal and the like for driving the LCD panel 101 andtransmitting the control signal to each flexible wiring board 105, and awiring board 106 for transmitting the control signal to each flexiblewiring board 104.

As shown in FIG. 17, the LCD panel 101 is formed by sealingly fillingliquid crystals 110 into a space between a pair of glass substrates 108and 109, and image display can be effected in the area in which theliquid crystals 110 are sealedly filled. A plurality of electrodeterminals 112 comprised of a single layer or a multiplicity of layersmade of such materials as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), Ti, Ta, Mo, Al and TaNare arranged on a peripheral portion 111 of one glass substrate 108.

Each flexible wiring board 104 has a rectangular film-like substrate140. As shown in FIG. 18, a through hole 142 having plane (length andwidth) dimensions greater than plane dimensions of the drive IC 102 isprovided in an approximate center portion of a substrate surface 140s.An output side wiring line 114a and an input side wiring line 114b eachconnected to the drive IC 102 are provided on the substrate surface140s. Portions 114e and 114f that belong respectively to the output sidewiring line 114a and the input side wiring line 114b and are located onthe peripheral side of the substrate surface 140s serve respectively asan output terminal and an input terminal of the flexible wiring board104. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17, the output side wiring line114a and the input side wiring line 114b are connected respectively toan output side electrode 113a and an input side electrode 113b of thedrive IC 102 at their portions 114c and 114d that extend inside thethrough hole 142. An amount of protrusion 1b from the substrate surface140s of the output side wiring line 114a and the input side wiring line114b is set to a value of 1.8×10⁻² mm or more. In an area where inputterminals 114f are arranged on the substrate surface 140s is provided aslit 115 that penetrates the substrate 140. Each flexible wiring board105 has approximately the same construction as that of the flexiblewiring board 104.

The wiring board 106 is provided with an electrode terminal 117 that isconnected to a bus line 116 and corresponds to the input terminal 114fof the flexible wiring board 104.

In a state of assembly, the electrode terminal 112 at the peripheralportion 111 of the LCD panel 101 and the output terminal 114e of theflexible wiring board 104 are connected with each other via ananisotropic conductive film 118. On the other hand, the input terminal114f of the flexible wiring board 104 and the electrode terminal 117 ofthe wiring board 106 are connected with each other by means of solder119. In detail, as shown in FIG. 19, the electrode terminal 112 of theLCD panel 101 and the output terminal 114e of the flexible wiring board104 are connected with each other by heating or like means withinterposition of the anisotropic conductive film 118 while receiving apressure from a pressure head 137a on a stage 137b. Such an assemblingtechnique is disclosed in Semiconductor World, special number, '93, newliquid crystal display process techniques, pp. 249-252, "driver ICassembling technique".

FIG. 20 shows another assembly structure of an LCD panel (JapanesePatent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 4242721). The LCD device shown inFIG. 20 includes an LCD panel 120, a flexible wiring board 122 mountedwith a drive IC 121, and a wiring board 123 for transmitting a controlsignal to the drive IC 121. The LCD panel 120 is formed by sealinglyfilling liquid crystals 126 into a space between a pair of glasssubstrates 124 and 125, and a plurality of electrode terminals 128 areformed at a peripheral portion 127 of one glass substrate 125. Thewiring board 123 is integratedly mounted to a peripheral portion 127 ofthe one glass substrate 125. The flexible wiring board 122 has an outputside wiring line 133a, an input side wiring line 133b, and a protectionfilm 134 on a film-like substrate 132 having no through hole. The outputside wiring line 133a and the input side wiring line 133b are connectedrespectively to an output side electrode 122a and an input sideelectrode 122b of the drive IC 121 via an anisotropic conductive film(not shown) at their portions 133c and 133d exposed inside an opening ofa protection film 135. The wiring board 123 has an electrode terminal129 for transmitting a control signal to the drive IC 121 on its surface123a mounted to the peripheral portion 127 of the glass substrate 125 ofthe LCD panel 120.

Then, an electrode terminal 128 at a peripheral portion 127 of the LCDpanel 120 and an output terminal 133e comprised of a part of the outputside wiring line 133a of the flexible wiring board 122 are connectedwith each other via an anisotropic conductive film (not shown). On theother hand, an input terminal 133f comprised of a part of the input sidewiring line 133b of the flexible wiring board 122 and an electrodeterminal 129 of the wiring board 123 are connected with each other viaan anisotropic conductive film (not shown).

A pitch of the connection portion between the glass substrate 125 andthe flexible wiring board 122 is set to, for example, 1.6×10⁻¹ mm, apitch of the connection portion between the flexible wiring board 122and the drive IC 121 is set to, for example, 2.3×10⁻¹ mm, and a pitch ofthe connection portion between the flexible wiring board 122 and thewiring board 123 is set to, for example, 0.7 mm.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 21, when terminals of two substrates,for example, the terminals of the drive IC 121 and the terminals of theslitless flexible wiring board 122 are connected with each other,positional reconditioning is effected by confirming alignment marks (notshown) of both the substrates 125 and 122 by means of two cameras 130and 131, and thereafter the flexible wiring board 122 is moved by aspecified length L. By the above-mentioned operation, the board 122 issuperposed on the drive IC 121, so that the terminals are made to faceeach other. It is to be noted that sometimes only one camera is used torecondition the position of one substrate.

Such a thin type panel for use in a display, a sensor or the like asrepresented chiefly by an LCD panel, has the advantageous features ofthin configuration, small size, light weight, low power consumption, andso forth in comparison with a display panel such as a cathode ray tube.For the above reasons, there has been a growing demand for using such athin type panel in portable television sets, personal computers, peninput type electronic pocketbooks, in-car displays, industrial usedisplays, image readers, and so forth. Meanwhile, each thin type panelhas been required to achieve further improvement of the performancethereof as a high-class information display device or an image reader,finer image display, and reduction in dimensions and cost byhigh-density assembling of components on the periphery of the displaypanel. Therefore, drive IC mounting technique has acquired greaterimportance.

If the above-mentioned demands are reflected on the prior art assemblystructure shown in FIG. 17, there are required pitches of not greaterthan 0.1 mm, 8.0×10⁻² mm and 0.4 mm respectively in the connectionportion between the LCD panel 101 and the flexible wiring board 104, theconnection portion between the flexible wiring board 104 and the driveIC 102, and the connection portion between the flexible wiring board 104and the wiring board 106. Responding to the demands, some componentssuch as a connection material are now under development so as to conformto a fine pitch.

However, in order to achieve the above-mentioned high-density assemblingat a fine pitch stably with good mass-productivity, there are demanded,in addition to development of an appropriate connection material, thefollowing requirements of:

(1) improving etching accuracy of the wiring lines 114aand 114b of theflexible wiring board 104;

(2) improving accuracy in aligning boards; and

(3) suppressing possible misalignment between mutually oppositeelectrode terminals attributed to a difference in coefficient of thermalexpansion between boards made of different materials and slip of aconnection material when it is melted.

In order to improve the etching accuracy of the flexible wiring board104 (the above-mentioned requirement (1)), as known by persons skilledin the art, the amount of protrusion 1b from the substrate surface 140sof the wiring lines 114a and 114b is required to be reduced to, forexample, 1.8×10⁻² mm or less. However, when the amount of protrusion 1bis set to 1.8×10⁻² mm or less, since the portions (terminals) 114c and114d of the wiring lines 114a and 114b are protruding inside the throughhole 142 without being supported by the substrate 140, there occurs aproblem that the terminals 114c and 114d are bent in the manufacturingprocesses. Consequently, the above causes an increased number of casesof shortcircuit of the terminals 114c and 114d and an increased numberof cases of imperfect connection of the terminals 114c and 114d with theoutput side electrode 113a and the input side electrode 113b of thedrive IC 102, resulting in a reduced yield and a difficulty infine-pitch connection.

Furthermore, since the input terminals 114f of the flexible wiring board104 and the electrode terminals 117 of the wiring board 106 areconnected with each other via solder 119, there has not been achievedfine-pitch connection at a pitch of not greater than 0.6 mm at the massproduction level.

Further, the prior art assembly structure as shown in FIG. 20 has theproblems:

(1) that, when the drive IC 121 is aligned by a system as shown in FIG.21 or the like in being mounted onto the flexible wiring board 122, apoor positional alignment accuracy results due to a misalignment in thepositional reconditioning between the cameras 130 and 131 and amechanical variation in amount of movement L; and

(2) that, when the drive IC 121 is connected to the flexible wiringboard 122, there easily occur a misalignment between the mutuallyopposite terminals due to a difference between coefficients of thermalexpansion of the drive IC 121 and the flexible wiring board 122 and areduction in reliability at the connection portions after the connectingprocess due to the influence of a residual stress.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a highlyreliable panel assembly structure capable of performing fine-pitchhigh-density assembling at a high yield and a low cost, and provide anintegrated circuit mounting tape for use in such a panel assemblystructure and a manufacturing method thereof.

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present inventionprovides a panel assembly structure including: a flexible wiring boardprovided with a film-like substrate having a flexibility; an integratedcircuit chip mounted in a specified area on a surface of the substrate,said integrated circuit chip having an output side electrode and aninput side electrode connected respectively with an output side wiringline and an input side wiring line provided on the surface of thesubstrate each via a second connection material; a panel of which aperipheral portion has an electrode terminal, said electrode terminalbeing connected with an output terminal comprised of a part of theoutput side wiring line of the flexible wiring board via a firstconnection material; and a wiring board which has an electrode terminalfor supplying a signal to the integrated circuit chip, said electrodeterminal being connected with an input terminal comprised of a part ofthe input side wiring line of the flexible wiring board via a thirdconnection material, wherein an area which belongs to the surface of thesubstrate of the flexible wiring board and in which the integratedcircuit chip is mounted is provided with a through hole which penetratesthe substrate and has plane (length and width) dimensions smaller thanplane dimensions of the integrated circuit chip, and portions whichbelong respectively to the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line and are connected respectively with the output sideelectrode and the input side electrode of the integrated circuit chipare supported by the surface of the substrate around the through hole.

According to the above-mentioned panel assembly structure, the throughhole having plane dimensions smaller than the plane dimensions of theintegrated circuit (IC) chip is provided in the area which belongs tothe substrate surface of the flexible wiring board and in which the ICchip is mounted. In addition, the portions which belong to the outputside wiring line and the input side wiring line of the flexible wiringboard and are connected to the output side electrode and the input sideelectrode of the IC chip are supported by the substrate surface aroundthe through hole. Therefore, the portions do not bend in the process ofmounting the IC chip or other manufacturing processes. Therefore, theamount of protrusion from the substrate surface of the output sidewiring line and the input side wiring line of the flexible wiring boardcan be reduced (the thickness of each wiring layer is made thin) furtherthan in the prior art. The amount of protrusion can be set to, forexample, 1.8×10⁻² mm or less. When the amount of protrusion is set tosuch a reduced value, the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line are finished with high etching accuracy. Therefore,connection of the output side wiring line and the input side wiring linewith the output side electrode and the input side electrode of the ICchip is performed at a pitch finer than that of the prior art.Furthermore, connection of the output terminal comprised of a part ofthe output side wiring line with the electrode terminal of the panel andconnection of the input terminal comprised of a part of the input sidewiring line with the electrode terminal of the wiring board can be alsoperformed at a fine pitch.

On the other hand, the through hole is formed in the area in which theIC chip is mounted, whereby a superfluous substrate portion is removed.Furthermore, by virtue of the non-existence of the substrate portionthat extends more than the IC chip, a reduced thermal stress results.Furthermore, by virtue of the non-existence of the substrate portion,the required amount of heat to be applied is reduced to allow thetemperature of heating to be reduced. The above-mentioned factors effectsynergistically, so that the possible misalignment between theelectrodes of the IC chip and the terminal portions of the wiring lineof the flexible wiring board due to the influence of the thermalexpansion of the substrate material in the process of mounting the ICchip by thermocompression bonding can be reduced. Consequently, aconnection area is assured between the terminals, so that the connectionreliability is improved. Furthermore, a residual stress of the substrateis also reduced, and therefore the reliability of connection between themutually opposite terminals can be further improved. Furthermore, theresidual stress is also reduced by the synergistic effect of thenon-existence of the member which may generate residual stress in thevicinity of the terminals by virtue of the reduction of the material dueto the provision of the through hole and the reduction in temperature ofheating by virtue of the reduction in required thermal capacity in thethermocompression bonding process.

Furthermore, for example, by extending in a specified pattern a part ofthe wiring layer from on the substrate surface around the through holeto the inside of the through hole in the area of the through hole at thesubstrate surface of the flexible wiring board, an alignment markcorresponding to the IC chip can be provided. In the above-mentionedcase, an alignment mark is also provided at the IC chip, and positionalalignment is achieved by observing both the alignment marks through theabove-mentioned through hole. Accordingly, there is no need to performthe positional alignment with the complicated system as in the priorart, thereby allowing fine-pitch terminals to be aligned with each otherwith high accuracy.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the secondconnection material for connecting the output side electrode and theinput side electrode of the IC chip respectively with the output sidewiring line and the input side wiring line of the flexible wiring boardis provided by solder.

In the above-mentioned case, the second connection material can besupplied to each IC in a wafer state before the wafer is divided intoindividual IC chips. When the second connection material is supplied toeach IC in the wafer state, the material can be supplied at a lower costthan when it is supplied to each one in a chip state. Furthermore,rework (restoration of defective components) can be facilitated afterthe IC chip is mounted on the substrate surface, consequently allowingthe manufacturing cost to be reduced.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the secondconnection material is provided by an anisotropic conductive film.

In the above-mentioned case, the second connection material can besupplied to a tape-shaped (sheet-shaped rolled) material before thetape-shaped material is divided into individual flexible wiring boards.When the second connection material is supplied to the tape-shapedmaterial, the connection material can be easily automatically suppliedat a cost lower than in the case where the connection material issupplied to each one in a chip form. Furthermore, when the secondconnection material is provided by an anisotropic conductive film, theterminal material can be selected from various sorts of terminalmaterials to be used for the connection in comparison with the case ofsolder. For instance, an inexpensive material of aluminum can beselected, for example, as a material for the output side wiring line andthe input side wiring line of the flexible wiring board, andconsequently a reduced cost can be achieved. Furthermore, by adopting ananisotropic conductive film as the first, second, and third connectionmaterials, an identical sort of connection material can be used as theconnection materials.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the first,second and third connection materials are provided by a connectionmaterial of an identical sort.

In the above-mentioned case, the connection material of the identicalsort is used, however, the reliability of connection portions using thefirst, second and third connection materials of different types can beadjusted to the same level. Furthermore, no matter which the connectionmaterials are of the same type or of different types, a plurality ofconnection portions can be simultaneously connected by one connectingapparatus. Therefore, a reduced number of manufacturing processes can beachieved. Further, the apparatuses necessary for obtaining a specifiedthroughput can be reduced in number, thereby allowing an investment costfor an equipment to be reduced. Further, as a result of the reduction innumber of apparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in a factorycan be reduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the first,second and third connection materials are provided integratedly.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, the first, second and thirdconnection materials can be supplied to a normally rolled substratematerial simultaneously by one supply apparatus. Therefore, themanufacturing processes can be reduced in number. Further, theapparatuses necessary for obtaining a specified throughput can bereduced in number, thereby allowing an investment cost for the equipmentto be reduced. Further, as a result of the reduction in number ofapparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in the factory can bereduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, at least oneof the area in which the IC chip is mounted and the area in which theoutput terminal is formed, said areas belonging to the flexible wiringboard, has a thickness set smaller than a thickness of the other area ofthe substrate of the flexible wiring board.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, there is achieved a reduceddifference in temperature distribution in the direction of the thicknessof the area in the connecting process. Therefore, the temperature ofheating can be set low. When the temperature of heating is set low, if adifference in coefficient of thermal expansion exists between the paneland the flexible wiring board to be connected with each other or betweenthe IC chip and the flexible wiring board to be connected with eachother, the resulting residual stress due to the difference incoefficient of thermal expansion can be reduced after the connectingprocess. Furthermore, the arrangement that the thickness of thesubstrate of the flexible wiring board is thin can also reduce the totalamount of residual stress. Therefore, the reliability of the connectionportions can be improved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the paneland the wiring board are formed integratedly.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, connection on the output terminalside and connection on the input terminal side of the flexible wiringboard can be simultaneously performed by one connecting apparatus.Therefore, the manufacturing processes can be reduced in number.Further, the apparatuses necessary for obtaining a specified throughputcan be reduced in number, thereby allowing an investment cost for theequipment to be reduced. Further, as a result of the reduction in numberof apparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in the factory canbe reduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, a film-likesubstrate which has a flexibility and extends in one direction isprovided, and IC chips are mounted on the substrate surface in one or aplurality of lines in the lengthwise direction of the substrate.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, the tape can be easilymanufactured automatically continuously. In other words, a connectionmaterial for connecting the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line respectively with the output side electrode and the inputside electrode of each IC chip, a connection material provided on theoutput side wiring line and the input side wiring line for theconnection thereof with external electrodes, and members such as ICchips can be continuously supplied onto the film-like substrate. Theabove-mentioned process can be easily automated. Consequently, anincreased productivity can be achieved to allow the manufacturing costto be reduced in comparison with the case where flexible wiring boardsare manufactured individually.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment, a through hole having planedimensions smaller than the plane dimensions of the IC chip is providedin the area which belongs to the substrate surface of the flexiblewiring board and in which the IC chip is mounted, while portions whichbelong respectively to the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line and are connected respectively with the output sideelectrode and the input side electrode of the IC chip are supported bythe substrate surface around the through hole.

In the above-mentioned case, the portions do not bend in the process ofmounting the IC chip or other manufacturing processes such as a windingprocess. Therefore, the amount of protrusion from the substrate surfaceof the output side wiring line and the input side wiring line can bereduced (the thickness of each wiring line is made thin) further than inthe prior art. The amount of protrusion can be set to, for example,1.8×10⁻² mm or less. When the amount of protrusion is set to such areduced value, the output side wiring line and the input side wiringline are finished with high etching accuracy. Therefore, connection ofthe output side wiring line and the input side wiring line respectivelywith the output side electrode and the input side electrode of the ICchip is achieved at a pitch finer than in the prior art. Furthermore,connection of the output side wiring line and the input side wiring linewith external panels of various sorts and the like is also achieved at afine pitch.

Furthermore, a through hole is formed in the area in which the IC chipis mounted, whereby a superfluous substrate portion is removed.Therefore, the possible misalignment between the electrodes of the ICchip and the output side wiring line and the input side wiring line dueto the influence of the thermal expansion of the substrate material inthe process of mounting the IC chip by thermocompression bonding isreduced, so that the connection reliability is improved. Furthermore,the residual stress of the substrate is also reduced, and therefore thereliability of connection between the mutually opposite terminals isfurther improved. It is to be noted that the residual stress is reducedbecause of the reduction of the material by virtue of the provision ofthe through hole and the reduction in temperature of heating due to thereduction in required thermal capacity in the thermocompression bondingprocess.

Furthermore, for example, by extending in a specified pattern a part ofthe wiring layer from on the substrate surface around the through holeto the inside of the through hole in the area of the through hole at thesubstrate surface, an alignment mark corresponding to the IC chip isprovided. In the above-mentioned case, an alignment mark is alsoprovided at the IC chip, and alignment is achieved by observing both thealignment marks through the above-mentioned through hole. Accordingly,there is no need to perform the positional alignment with thecomplicated system as in the prior art, thereby allowing the fine-pitchterminals to be aligned with each other with high accuracy.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, one or a pluralityof the connection materials are belt-shaped and provided in thelengthwise direction of the substrate, each connection materialcorresponding to at least one line of the IC chips.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, the connection material can becontinuously supplied in the lengthwise direction of the substrate inthe manufacturing process. Therefore, an increased productivity can beachieved to allow the manufacturing cost to be reduced in comparisonwith the case where the connection material is supplied to eachindividual flexible wiring board.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, a terminal connectedto the output side wiring line or the input side wiring line is providedoutside the area in which the belt-shaped connection material isprovided on the substrate surface.

With the above-mentioned arrangement, by using the terminal as aninspection terminal and putting a probe pin for electrical inspection incontact with the terminal (inspection terminal), a function test of theIC chip and a connection test of the connection portions are performedin the middle of the assembling process. When a defective component isextracted as a result of each test, removal or rework is performed inearly stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be totally reduced.

According to the IC mounting tape of one embodiment, the output sidewiring line, the input side wiring line, and the belt-shaped connectionmaterial are provided on one surface of the substrate, while a terminalconnected to the output side wiring line or the input side wiring lineis provided on the substrate surface opposite from the above-mentionedone substrate surface.

In the above-mentioned case, the terminal can be provided compactly onthe rear side of the output side wiring line and the input side wiringline without increasing the area of the substrate nor accompanying costincrease. By using the terminal as an inspection terminal and putting aprobe pin for electrical inspection in contact with the terminal(inspection terminal), a function test of the IC chip and a connectiontest of the connection portions are performed in the middle of theassembling process. When a defective component is extracted as a resultof each test, removal or rework can be performed in early stages.Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be totally reduced. Furthermore,after the substrate is divided into individual flexible wiring boards,the above mentioned terminal can be used as an inspection terminal withthe board connected to any of various external panels and the like. Inother words, a panel of each sort can be compactly assembled withprovision of the inspection terminal.

According to the IC mounting tape manufacturing method of the presentinvention, the substrate and the one or the plurality of belt-shapedconnection materials are fed in a stack in the lengthwise directionthereof onto a specified stage, and then subjected to a heating orpressure applying process, or a heating and pressure applying process onthe stage, so that the substrate and the belt-shaped connection materialare integrated continuously in the lengthwise direction.

According to the manufacturing method having the above-mentionedarrangement, the connection material is supplied in a short time in thelengthwise direction of the substrate. Therefore, an increasedproductivity can be achieved to allow the manufacturing cost to bereduced in comparison with the case where the connection material issupplied to each individual flexible wiring board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view of an exemplified flexible wiring board for use inconstructing a panel assembly structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of an exemplified flexible wiring board for use inconstructing a panel assembly structure of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a panel assembly structure and an assemblingprocess of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an essential part of the flexible wiringboard shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of an essential part of a modificationexample of the flexible wiring board shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a panel assembly structure of an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 is a view of an exemplified flexible wiring board for use inconstructing a panel assembly structure of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a view of a panel assembly structure of another embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9 is a view of an IC mounting tape of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along a line X--X in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a view of an IC mounting tape of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a view of an IC mounting tape of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 is a view showing a panel assembly structure and an electricinspection method of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14A through 14C are views showing an IC mounting tapemanufacturing process of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a view showing a modification example of a phase of the ICmounting tape manufacturing process shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a prior art LCD device;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along a line XVII--XVII in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a view of a flexible wiring board for use in constructing theprior art LCD device;

FIG. 19 is a view for explaining a method for mounting the prior art LCDdevice;

FIG. 20 is a view of another prior art LCD device; and

FIG. 21 is a view for explaining a method for aligning prior art boards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a flexible wiring board 40 for use in constructing a panelassembly structure of an embodiment of the present invention. Theflexible wiring board 40 has a film-like substrate 2 having aflexibility.

The substrate 2 is made of polyimide, polyester, or a bendable metalfoil processed with an insulating film, or the like. In an area A at anappropriate center portion of a substrate surface 2s is mounted a driveIC 1 which serves as an IC chip having an output side electrode 3a andan input side electrode 3b. In the area A of the substrate surface 2s isprovided a slit 4 which is a through hole having dimensions set smallerthan the length and width dimensions of the drive IC 1. Around the slit4 of the substrate surface 2s are provided an output side wiring line 5aand an input side wiring line 5b comprised of an identical wiring layer5 (refer to FIG. 4). The output side wiring line 5a and the input sidewiring line 5b are each made of Cu, Al or the like plated with Au or Sn,and an amount of protrusion la from the substrate surface 2s is set to1.8×10⁻² mm or less (note that the output side wiring line 5a and theinput side wiring line 5b may be buried in the substrate 2 and theamount of protrusion 1a from the substrate surface 2s may be zero ornegative). Portions which belong respectively to the output side wiringline 5a and the input side wiring line 5b and are located at peripheralportions of the substrate surface 2s serve respectively as an outputterminal 5e and an input terminal 5f of the flexible wiring board 40.

The output side electrode 3a and the input side electrode 3b of thedrive IC 1 are connected respectively with the output side wiring line5a and the input side wiring line 5b provided on the substrate surface2s respectively via anisotropic conductive films 6a and 6b which serveas a second connection material. Portions 5c and 5d which belongrespectively to the output side wiring line 5a and the input side wiringline 5b and are connected respectively with the output side electrode 3aand the input side electrode 3b of the drive IC 1 are supported by thesubstrate surface 2s around the slit 4.

It is also acceptable to adopt a connection material different from theanisotropic conductive films 6a and 6b as the second connectionmaterial, however, the material of anisotropic conductive film issometimes preferable for the reason that the manufacturing cost can bereduced or other reasons. When the second connection material isprovided by the anisotropic conductive films 6a and 6b, various sorts ofterminal materials can be selected for the connection in comparison withthe case where solder or another material is used. For instance, aninexpensive material of aluminum or the like can be selected as amaterial for the output side wiring line 5a and the input side wiringline 5b, and consequently a reduced cost can be achieved. Furthermore,as shown in FIG. 3, by adopting the anisotropic conductive films 6a and6b as the first, second, and third connection materials, the connectionmaterials can be provided by a connection material of an identical sort.It is preferable that the output side connection material 6a and theinput side connection material 6b are made of a material of an identicalsort, however, when a connection resistance and other specifications onthe input side and the output side differ from each other, materials ofdifferent sorts or materials of different types and an identical sortare used at need.

FIG. 2 shows a modification example 41 of the flexible wiring board 40.The flexible wiring board 41 has a substrate having the same structureas that of the substrate 2 of the flexible wiring board 40 (forsimplicity, the substrate of the modification is denoted by the samereference numeral 2).

In an area A of a substrate surface 2s is mounted a drive IC 1 whichserves as an IC chip having an output side electrode 3a and an inputside electrode 3b. Around a slit 4 of the substrate surface 2s areprovided an output side wiring line 7a and an input side wiring line 7bcomprised of an identical wiring layer 7. The output side wiring line 7aand the input side wiring line 7b are each made of Cu, Al or the likeplated with Au or Sn, and an amount of protrusion la from the substratesurface 2s is set to 1.8×10⁻² mm or less. Portions which belongrespectively to the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b and are located at peripheral portions of the substrate surface2s serve respectively as an output terminal 7e and an input terminal 7fof the flexible wiring board 41.

At the portions of the output terminal 7e and the input terminal 7f ofthe flexible wiring board 41, connection materials 8a and 8b of anidentical sort are provided in the present example. It is to be notedthat the connection materials 8a and 8b may be of different sorts, whenthe materials are required to be properly selected so as to beconnectable in an identical connection condition (heating underpressure, heating, photo-setting under pressure, pressure welding,etc.).

The output side electrode 3a and the input side electrode 3b of thedrive IC 1 are connected respectively with the output side wiring line7a and the input side wiring line 7b provided on the substrate surface2s respectively via second connection materials 8c and 8d . Portions 7cand 7d which belong respectively to the output side wiring line 7a andthe input side wiring line 7b and are connected respectively to theoutput side electrode 3a and the input side electrode 3b of the drive IC1 are supported by the substrate surface 2s around the slit 4.

In the present embodiment, the second connection materials 8c and 8d areprovided by solder. Since the material is solder, the second connectionmaterials 8c and 8d can be supplied to drive ICs in a wafer state beforethe wafer is divided into individual drive ICs. When the secondconnection materials 8c and 8d are supplied to the drive ICs in thewafer state, the materials can be supplied at a lower cost than whenthey are supplied to each one in a chip state. Furthermore, rework(restoration of defective components) can be facilitated after eachdrive IC 1 is mounted on the substrate surface, consequently allowingthe manufacturing cost to be reduced. It is to be noted that the secondconnection materials 8c and 8d may be made of Au or Cu plated with Aupreparatorily formed on each drive IC 1 or on the output side wiringline 7a and the input side wiring line 7b.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which an LCD panel 9 is assembled with theflexible wiring board 41 shown in FIG. 2. The LCD panel 9 is constitutedby sealingly filling liquid crystals 11 in a space between mutuallyopposite substrates 9a and 9b. On an internal surface of the substrate9a is formed an electrode terminal 12 for receiving a display signalfrom the flexible wiring board 41. In the vicinity of the LCD panel 9 isdisposed a wiring board 13. One surface 13a of the wiring board 13 isformed with an electrode terminal 14 for supplying an input signal tothe flexible wiring board 41 and with a recess portion 13d for storingthe drive IC 1. By storing the drive IC 1 in the recess portion 13d, theresulting device thickness in the state of assembly can be reduced.

The assembling process is performed by connecting the output terminal 7eof the flexible wiring board 41 to the electrode terminal 12 of the LCDpanel 9 via the first connection material 8a, and connecting the inputterminal 7f of the flexible wiring board 41 to the electrode terminal 14of the wiring board 13 via the third connection material 8b. In theconnecting process, as shown in FIG. 3, the portions of the firstconnection terminal 7e and the third connection terminal 7f aresimultaneously collectively connected via a sheet-like buffer material16 by means of a concave type (or flat type) heating and pressureapplying head 15. Through the above-mentioned processes, a reducedmanufacturing cost and a stabilized quality can be achieved. The buffermaterial 16 is used for the reason that the heating and pressureapplying head 15 has two or more pressure applying portions andtherefore it is required to absorb deviations in parallelism or flatnessof the pressure applying portions of the heating and pressure applyinghead 15. The buffer material 16 may be made of silicone rubber,polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), tetrafluoroethylene or a similarmaterial having a thickness of about 0.5×10⁻¹ to 0.8 mm. With theabove-mentioned arrangement, good releasability and good restorabilityresult after the pressure-connecting process, consequently allowing agood connection reliability to be assured after it is used a pluralityof times of about 100 to 10000 times.

When the first connection terminal 7e and the third connection terminal7f have different specifications of connection resistance and the like,it is of course acceptable to use connection materials of differentsorts or materials of different types and an identical sort as the firstconnection material 8a and the third connection material 8b.

According to the above-mentioned panel assembly structure, the portions7c and 7d which belong respectively to the output side wiring line 7aand the input side wiring line 7b of the flexible wiring board 41 andare connected respectively with the output side electrode 3a and theinput side electrode 3b of the drive IC 1 are supported by the substratesurface 2s around the slit 4. Therefore, the portions 7c and 7d can beprevented from being bent in a process of mounting the drive IC or othermanufacturing processes. Therefore, the amount of protrusion 1b from thesubstrate surface 2s of the output side wiring line 7a and the inputside wiring line 7b of the flexible wiring board 41 can be set to1.8×10.sup.×2 mm or less for the reasons as described above, i.e., theamount of protrusion can be reduced further than in the prior art. Whenthe amount of protrusion la is set to such a reduced value, the outputside wiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b can be finishedwith high etching accuracy. Therefore, connection of the output sidewiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b respectively with theoutput side electrode 3a and the input side electrode 3b of the drive IC1 can be performed at a pitch finer than in the prior art. Furthermore,connection of the output terminal 7e comprised of a part of the outputside wiring line 7a with the electrode terminal 12 of the LCD panel 9and connection of the input terminal 7f comprised of a part of the inputside wiring line 7b with the electrode terminal 14 of the wiring board13 can be also performed at a fine pitch.

On the other hand, the slit 4 is formed in the area A in which the driveIC 1 is mounted on the substrate surface, whereby a superfluoussubstrate portion is removed. Therefore, the possible misalignmentbetween the electrodes 3a and 3b of the drive IC 1 and the terminals 7cand 7d of the wiring lines 7a and 7b due to the influence of the thermalexpansion of the substrate 2 in the process of mounting the drive IC 1by thermocompression bonding can be reduced. Therefore, the connectionreliability can be improved. Furthermore, the residual stress of thesubstrate 2 can be also reduced, and therefore the reliability ofconnection between the mutually opposite terminals can be furtherimproved. It is to be noted that the residual stress is reduced becauseof a reduction of the stress itself due to the reduction of the materialof the substrate 2 and a reduction in temperature of heating as a resultof a reduction in thermal capacity in the thermocompression bondingprocess.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which alignment marks 17a and 17b areprovided in the area A of the flexible wiring board 40 shown in FIG. 1(viewed perpendicularly to the substrate surface). At diagonallyopposite corners of the slit 4, a pair of rectangular alignment marks17a and 17b are provided while protruding into the slit 4 from thesubstrate surface side. On the other hand, the drive IC 1 is providedwith L-shaped alignment marks 18a and 18b in portions corresponding tothe alignment marks 17a and 17b of the flexible wiring board 40. Whenthe alignment marks 17a, 17b, 18a, 18b are provided in a manner asdescribed above, there is no need to perform the positional alignmentwith the complicated system as described with reference to FIG. 21,therefore allowing the fine-pitch terminals to be aligned with eachother with high accuracy. In other words, the drive IC 1 and theflexible wiring board 40 can be aligned with each other with highaccuracy automatically or semiautomatically while observing thealignment marks 17a, 17b, 18a and 18b through the slit 4. Therefore, theelectrodes and terminals at the connection portions can be made to havea fine pitch, thereby allowing a high-density assembling to be achieved.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a flexible wiring board 42 is providedwith another slit and alignment marks. The flexible wiring board 42 isprovided with a pair of rectangular slits 4a and 4b which serves asthrough holes in an area A of its substrate surface. Around the slits 4aand 4b are provided square or rectangular alignment marks 19a and 19bwhile protruding into the slits 4a and 4b from the substrate surfaceside. On the other hand, the drive IC 1 is provided with square orrectangular alignment marks 20a and 20b in portions corresponding to thealignment marks 19a and 19b of the flexible wiring board 42. When thealignment marks 19a, 19b, 20a, 20b are provided in a manner as describedabove, the drive IC and the flexible wiring board 42 can be aligned witheach other with high accuracy automatically or semiautomatically whileobserving the alignment marks 19a, 19b, 20a and 20b through the slits 4aand 4b in the same manner as in the previous case. Therefore, theelectrodes and terminals at the connection portions can be made to havea fine pitch, thereby allowing a high-density assembling to be achieved.

When the slits 4a and 4b are small as described above, as shown in FIG.6, a thickness ta of a portion 2a in the area A in which the drive IC 1is to be mounted at the substrate 2 of the flexible wiring board 42 ispreferably set smaller than an original thickness tb.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the LCD panel 9 is assembled with theflexible wiring board 42 shown in FIG. 5. The thickness ta of a portion2a in the area A in which the drive IC 1 is mounted on the substrate 2of the flexible wiring board 42 is set to a value two-thirds of theoriginal thickness tb or less (for example, when the original thicknesstb is 7.5×10⁻² mm, the thickness of the portion 2a in the area A is setto 3.5×10⁻² mm). When the thickness ta of the portion 2a in the area Ais thin as described above, the drive IC 1 can be directly connected viaa bump electrode serving as the second connection materials 8c and 8dand made of a material such as Au instead of solder. The above isbecause a difference in temperature distribution can be reduced in adirection of thickness of the portions in the connecting process andtherefore the temperature of heating can be set low. When thetemperature of heating is set low, even if a difference in coefficientof thermal expansion exists between the panel 9 and the flexible wiringboard 42 connected with each other or between the drive IC 1 and theflexible wiring board 42 connected with each other, the residual stressdue to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion can be reducedafter the connecting process. Furthermore, since the thickness of thesubstrate 2 of the flexible wiring board 42 is thin, the total amount ofresidual stress can be also reduced. Therefore, the reliability of theconnection portions can be improved.

Furthermore, the thicknesses of the portions 2b and 2c which belong tothe substrate 2 and are to be bent in the assembling process are setthinner than the original thickness tb in the same manner as in theportion 2a in the area A.

As a method for partially reducing the thickness of the substrate 2,there are known a method for performing etching by chemically reversesputtering, by laser or the like and a method for supplying a substratethinly after formation of a slit. By any of the above-mentioned methods,the thicknesses of the portions 2a, 2b and 2c of the substrate 2 can beset with high accuracy. Furthermore, by simultaneously performingsetting of the thicknesses of the portions 2a, 2b and 2c, an excessivecost increase can be suppressed.

To make thin the entire substrate 2 of the flexible wiring board 42results in a difficulty in manufacturing the substrate 2 itself and adifficulty in handling the substrate 2 in the mounting process of thedrive IC 1 and other processes. The above-mentioned drawbacksdisadvantageously result in a cost increase.

At a peripheral portion of the LCD panel 9, the wiring board 13 isintegratedly assembled with the LCD panel 9 by means of a connectionmaterial 15. On a surface 13b which belongs to the wiring board 13 andis positioned opposite from the drive IC 1, there is formed an electrodeterminal 14 for supplying an input signal to the flexible wiring board42.

The assembling is performed by connecting the output terminal 7e of theflexible wiring board 42 to the electrode terminal 12 of the LCD panel 9via the first connection material 8a, bending the flexible wiring board42 at the portions 2b and 2c having small thicknesses, and connectingthe input terminal 7f of the flexible wiring board 42 to the electrodeterminal 14 of the wiring board 13 via the third connection material 8b.In the process of positional alignment, while observing the alignmentmarks 19a and 19b or the alignment marks 20a and 20b (only the marks 19aand 20b are shown in FIG. 6) together with alignment marks (not shown)of the LCD panel 9 through the slits 4a and 4b, the LCD panel 9 and theflexible wiring board 42 can be aligned with each other automatically orsemiautomatically with high accuracy. Therefore, the electrodes andterminals at the connection portions can be made to have a fine pitch,thereby allowing a high-density assembling to be achieved.

When the assembly structure in which the flexible wiring board 42 isbent in an approximately U-like form as in FIG. 6 is adopted, adimension of protrusion La protruding sidewise from an edge of the LCDpanel 9 can be reduced, thereby allowing a compact assembly structure tobe obtained. Furthermore, the thicknesses of the bent portions 2b and 2cof the substrate 2 of the flexible wiring board 42 are set thin as inthe portion 2a in the area A, and therefore the portions 2b and 2c canbe easily processed to be bent, thereby allowing a reduced residualstress to be achieved after the bending process. Therefore, thereliability of the connection portions of the output terminal 7e and theinput terminal 7f can be improved.

FIG. 7 shows a flexible wiring board 43 in which the thickness of asubstrate 2 is set thin and a resin layer 2d which is thinner than thesubstrate 2 and has a flexibility is provided at least in an area A inwhich a drive IC 1 is to be provided.

The resin layer 2d is formed of a material identical to or differentfrom the material of the original substrate 2. The resin layer 2d can beformed before or after the drive IC 1 is mounted after a patternformation of the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b is completed on the substrate 2 surface. When the resin layer 2dis provided by a photo-setting resin or another material, the layer maybe formed simultaneously with the assembling while concurrently servingas the second connection material.

The resin layer 2d may be formed on the entire surface of the substrate2 as shown in FIG. 7. In particular, the resin layer 2d is preferablyformed in the vicinity of the output terminal 7e and the input terminal7f. When the resin layer 2d is formed in the vicinity of the outputterminal 7e and the input terminal 7f, the following advantages areproduced. (1) Since the output terminal 7e and the input terminal 7f areretained with high accuracy, there is less possibility of the occurrenceof imperfect connection due to a contact thereof with a foreign objectin the manufacturing process or in handling thereof even if theterminals 7e and 7f have a fine-pitch configuration. (2) Particularlywhen the first and third connection materials are anisotropic conductivefilms, the output terminal 7e and the input terminal 7f have an improvedadhesive strength. (3) When connection is performed under pressure bymeans of the pressure head 15 as shown in FIG. 3, a variation inflatness or parallelism of the pressure head 15 can be absorbed to someextent by a buffering effect. Still the thickness of the resin layer 2dis smaller than the original thickness of the substrate 2, and thereforea reduced capacity of heating can be permitted. Therefore, (4) when theconnection is performed by heating under pressure in a manner as shownin FIG. 3, the temperature of the pressure head 15 can be reduced sothat the variation in temperature distribution can be reduced in theconnecting process, thereby allowing uniform terminal connection to beachieved. Further, (5) by performing the connection by reducing thetemperature of the pressure head 15, the residual stress which will beleft in the resin layer 2d after the connecting process can be reduced,thereby allowing the total residual stress to be reduced. Therefore, theconnection reliability can be improved.

It is to be noted that the same effect as above can be obtained byforming a thin resin layer 2d at the bent portions 2b and 2c of thesubstrate 2 as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows a panel assembly structure of another embodiment. In thepresent embodiment, a wiring board for supplying an input signal to aflexible wiring board 44 is integratedly formed at a peripheral portionof the LCD panel 9. That is, the wiring board 13 provided separately inFIG. 3 or FIG. 6 are discarded, and a plurality of bus lines 21, 21 and21 for supplying an input signal are formed at peripheral portions ofone substrate 9a of the LCD panel 9. Among them, one bus line 21 isconnected to a corresponding input signal junction electrode terminal14a through a through hole 23 provided at an insulating film 22.

On the other hand, an area A which belongs to the flexible wiring board44 and in which the drive IC 1 is mounted has quite the same structureas that of the flexible wiring board 40 shown in FIG. 1. At the flexiblewiring board 44, an input terminal 5f is provided along the same side asthat of the output terminal 5e.

When assembled, the peripheral portion of the LCD panel 9 and the sidewhere the input terminal 5f and the output terminal 5e of the flexiblewiring board 44 are provided are made to overlap each other withinterposition of an anisotropic conductive film 6 which serves as thefirst, second and third connection materials, and then connected witheach other by heating under pressure. The connection can be collectivelyperformed by means of a pressure head smaller than the pressure head 15shown in FIG. 3.

Through the above-mentioned processes, the input terminal 5f of theflexible wiring board 44 is connected with the electrode terminal 14a atthe peripheral portion of the LCD panel 9. On the other hand, the outputterminal 5e of the flexible wiring board 44 is connected with theoriginal electrode terminal 12a of the LCD panel 9 in another sectionalplane (not shown) parallel to the sectional plane shown in FIG. 8.

According to the above-mentioned assembly structure, the LCD panel 9 andthe wiring board are integrated, and therefore the assembly body can befinished with light weight. Furthermore, in comparison with the assemblystructure shown in FIG. 3, the amount of protrusion Lb toward a side ofthe LCD panel 9 can be reduced. Furthermore, connection on the outputside and the input side of the flexible wiring board 44 can besimultaneously performed with one connecting apparatus. Therefore, themanufacturing processes can be reduced in number. Furthermore, theapparatuses necessary for obtaining a specified throughput can bereduced in number, thereby allowing an investment cost for an equipmentto be reduced. Furthermore, as a result of the reduction in number ofapparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in a factory can bereduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can be achieved.

Furthermore, the first, second and third connection materials areintegratedly made of the anisotropic conductive film 6, and thereforethe first, second and third connection material 6 are supplied to anormally rolled flexible wiring board simultaneously with one supplyapparatus. Therefore, the manufacturing processes are reduced in number.Furthermore, the apparatuses necessary for obtaining a specifiedthroughput can be reduced in number, thereby allowing an investment costfor the equipment to be reduced. Further, as a result of the reductionin number of apparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in thefactory can be reduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can beachieved.

FIG. 9 shows an IC mounting tape 50 of an embodiment of the presentinvention, while FIG. 10 shows a section taken along a line X--X in FIG.9.

As shown in FIG. 9, the IC mounting tape 50 has a film-like substrate 24which has a flexibility and extends in one direction. In the lengthwisedirection of the substrate 24, drive ICs 1 are mounted in two lines on asubstrate surface 24s. On the substrate surface 24s are provided outputside wiring lines 7a and input side wiring lines 7b for each drive IC 1.The output side wiring lines 7a and the input sides wiring lines 7bextend towards the side edges of the substrate 24 from mutually oppositesides of each drive IC 1. The output side wiring lines 7a are arrangedat a pitch of Pa, while the input side wiring lines 7b are arranged at apitch of Pb. Further, an anisotropic conductive film 25 is provided as abelt-shaped connection material for each line of the drive ICs 1. Asshown in FIG. 10, an output side electrode 3a and an input sideelectrode 3b of each drive IC 1 are connected respectively with theoutput side wiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b via theanisotropic conductive film 25.

In an area A which belongs to the substrate surface 24s and in whicheach drive IC 1 is mounted, a slit 4 which serves as a through holehaving dimensions smaller than the plane (length and width) dimensionsof the drive IC 1 is provided. Portions 7c and 7d which belongrespectively to the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b and are connected respectively with the output side electrode 3aand the input side electrode 3b of the drive IC 1 are supported by thesubstrate surface 24s around the slit 4.

The IC mounting tape 50 can be easily manufactured automaticallycontinuously by continuously supplying numbers such as the belt-shapedanisotropic conductive film 25 and the drive ICs 1, 1, . . . onto thesubstrate surface 24s of the film-like substrate 24. Then, by cuttingthe IC mounting tape 50 in positional correspondence with each of thedrive ICs 1, i.e., between mutually adjacent drive ICs 1 and 1, aplurality of flexible wiring boards can be obtained at a time.Consequently, an increased productivity can be achieved to allow themanufacturing cost to be reduced in comparison with the case where aflexible wiring board is manufactured for each individual drive IC 1.

At the IC mounting tape 50, the portions 7c and 7d which belongrespectively to the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b and are connected respectively with the output side electrode 3aand the input side electrode 3b of each drive IC 1 are supported by thesubstrate surface 24s around the slit 4. Therefore, the portions 7c and7d can be prevented from being bent in a process of mounting the driveIC or other processes. Therefore, the amount of protrusion 1a from thesubstrate surface 24s of the output side wiring line 7a and the inputside wiring line 7b can be set to, for example, 1.8×10⁻² mm or less,i.e., reduced further than in the prior art. When the amount ofprotrusion la is set to such a reduced value, the output side wiringline 7a and the input side wiring line 7b can be finished with highetching accuracy. Therefore, the pitches Pa and Pb of the output sidewiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b can be reduced, and theconnection of the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b with the output side electrode 3a and the input side electrode3b of the drive IC 1 can be performed at a pitch finer than in the priorart. Furthermore, connection of the output terminal 7e comprised of apart of the output side wiring line 7a with an external panel or thelike can be also performed at a fine pitch.

On the other hand, the slit 4 is formed in the area A in which the driveIC 1 is mounted at the substrate surface 24s, whereby a superfluoussubstrate portion is removed. Therefore, the possible misalignmentbetween the electrodes 3a and 3b of the drive IC 1 and the terminals 7cand 7d on the wiring line side due to the influence of the thermalexpansion of the substrate 2 in the process of mounting the drive IC 1with thermocompression bonding can be reduced. Therefore, the connectionreliability can be improved. Furthermore, the residual stress of thesubstrate 24 can be reduced, and therefore the reliability of connectionbetween the mutually opposite terminals can be further improved. It isto be noted that the residual stress is reduced because of a reductionof the stress itself due to the reduction of the material of thesubstrate 24 and a reduction in temperature of heating as a result of areduction in thermal capacity in the thermocompression bonding process.

In the area of the slit 4 at the substrate surface 24s; alignment marks17a and 17b as shown in FIG. 4 are provided, and the drive IC 1 isprovided with corresponding alignment marks 18a and 18b, therebyallowing positional alignment to be achieved by observing both thealignment marks 17a, 17b; 18a, 18b through the aforementioned throughhole 4. With the above-mentioned arrangement, there is no need toperform the positional alignment with the complicated system as shown inFIG. 21, thereby allowing the fine-pitch terminals to be aligned witheach other with high accuracy.

It is to be noted that drive ICs 1 may be arranged in three or morelines on the substrate surface 24s. Further, a plurality of belt-shapedanisotropic conductive films 25 may be provided for each line of thedrive ICs 1.

FIG. 11 shows another IC mounting tape 51.

The IC mounting tape 51 has a film-like substrate 24 which has aflexibility and extends in one direction. In the lengthwise direction ofthe substrate 24, drive ICs 1 are mounted in two lines on a substratesurface 24s. On the substrate surface 24s are provided output sidewiring lines 7a and input side wiring lines 7b for each drive IC 1. Theoutput side wiring line 7a extends from a side of the drive IC 1 towarda side edge of the substrate 24, and a terminal 26a is provided at a tipend of the output side wiring line 7a. On the other hand, the input sidewiring line 7b extends as bent in a bracket shape from the opposite sideof the drive IC 1 toward the side edge of the substrate 24, and aterminal 26b is provided at a tip end of the input side wiring line 7b.Further, in the lengthwise direction of the substrate 24, oneanisotropic conductive film 25 is provided as a belt-shaped connectionmaterial over two lines of the drive ICs 1. The terminals 26a and 26b atthe tip ends of the output side wiring line 7a and the input side wiringline 7b are arranged outside the area in which the anisotropicconductive film 25 is provided at the substrate surface 24s. Similarlyto the one shown in FIG. 10, the output side electrode and the inputside electrode of each drive IC 1 are connected respectively to theoutput side wiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b via theanisotropic conductive film 25.

At the IC mounting tape 51, one belt-shaped anisotropic conductive film25 is provided for two lines of the drive ICs 1, and therefore themounting processes can be reduced further in number than in the ICmounting tape 50 shown in FIG. 9.

Further, by using the terminals 26a and 26b as inspection terminals andputting probe pins for electrical inspection in contact with theinspection terminals 26a and 26b, a function test of the drive IC 1 anda connection test of the connection portions can be performed in themiddle of the assembling process. When a defective component isextracted as a result of each test, removal or rework can be performedin early stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be totallyreduced.

FIG. 12 shows yet another IC mounting tape 52. The IC mounting tape 52is a modification of the IC mounting tape 50 shown in FIG. 9, and has inplane the same construction as that of the IC mounting tape 50 shown inFIG. 9. At the IC mounting tape 52, terminals 27a and 27b connectedrespectively with the output side wiring line 7aand the input sidewiring line 7b are provided through the substrate 24 on a substratesurface 24t opposite to the substrate surface 24s on which the outputside wiring line 7a, the input side wiring line 7b and the anisotropicconductive film 25 are provided. The terminals 27a and 27b can beprovided compactly without increasing the area of the substrate surface24s nor accompanying cost increase.

Further, by using the terminals 27a and 27b as inspection terminals andputting probe pins for electrical inspection in contact with theinspection terminals 27a and 27b, a function test of the IC chip and aconnection test of the connection portions can be performed in themiddle of the assembling process. When a defective component isextracted as a result of each test, removal or rework can be performedin early stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be totallyreduced. Further, after the substrate 24 is divided every drive IC 1into individual flexible wiring boards, the terminals 27a and 27b can beused as inspection terminals with the boards connected to any of variousexternal panels and the like. In other words, a panel of each sort canbe compactly assembled with provision of the inspection terminals.

FIG. 13 shows still another IC mounting tape 53. The IC mounting tape 53is a modification of the IC mounting tape 50 shown in FIG. 9. Thepresent IC mounting tape 53 has in plane a construction similar to thatof the IC mounting tape 50 shown in FIG. 9 except that two belt-shapedanisotropic conductive films 25a and 25b and a solder connectionmaterial 25c are provided for each line of the drive ICs 1. Theanisotropic conductive film 25a is provided at an output terminal 7e ofan output side wiring line 7a, the anisotropic conductive film 25b isprovided at an input terminal 7f of an input side wiring line 7b, andthe solder connection material 25c is provided at portions 7c and 7d tobe connected respectively with the electrodes 3a and 3b of each driveIC 1. Further, at the present IC mounting tape 53, portions which belongto the substrate surface 24s and correspond to parts of the output sidewiring line 7a and the input side wiring line 7b are formed with slits28a and 28b each penetrating a substrate 24. Portions 7g and 7h whichbelong respectively to the output side wiring line 7a and the input sidewiring line 7b and are exposed due to the slits 28a and 28b are made toserve as terminals against which inspection probe pins 30a and 30b canabut.

According to the IC mounting tape 53, the wiring layers 7a and 7b areformed only on one surface 24s of the substrate 24, and therefore afurther cost reduction than with the IC mounting tape 52 shown in FIG.12 can be achieved. Furthermore, by using the terminals 7g and 7h asinspection terminals and putting probe pins 30a and 30b for electricalinspection in contact with the inspection terminals 7g and 7h in amanner similar to the IC mounting tape 52 shown in FIG. 12, a functiontest of the IC chip and a connection test of the connection portions canbe performed in the middle of the assembling process. When a defectivecomponent is extracted as a result of each test, removal or rework canbe performed in early stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can betotally reduced. Further, after the substrate 24 is divided every driveIC 1 into individual flexible wiring boards, the terminals 7gand 7h canbe used as inspection terminals with the boards connected to any ofvarious external panels and the like. In other words, a panel of eachsort can be compactly assembled with provision of the inspectionterminals.

FIGS. 14A through 14C show a manufacturing process of an IC mountingtape provided with a protection film of an embodiment.

In FIG. 14A, there are shown a pair of upper and lower guide rollers 31aand 31b and a pair of pressure rollers 32a and 32b which serve as astage.

A surface of a substrate 24 on a connection material 25 side ispreparatorily provided with a wiring layer 7. On the other hand, onesurface (surface that is not put in contact with the wiring layer 7) ofthe connection material 25 is provided with a protection film 35 havingappropriate cleanness, releasability, and thermal conductivity. Theprotection film 35 is made of, for example, a PTFE(polytetrafluoroethylene) material having a thickness of 0.1 mm or less,so that any foreign material can be prevented from being transferredonto the anisotropic conductive film 25 from the upper rollers 31a and32a or the like.

(1) As shown in FIG. 14A, the film-like substrate 24 and a belt-shapedconnection material 25 comprised of, for example, an anisotropicconductive film are made to pass in a stack between the guide rollers31a and 31b in the lengthwise direction thereof at a constant velocityv.

(2) After making the substrate 24 and connection material 25 passbetween the guide rollers 31a and 31b and before pressing them by meansof the rollers 32a and 32b, a hot blast 36 is blown toward theconnection material 25 from the protection film 35 side so as to heatthe connection material 25 and so forth to a specified temperature.

It is to be noted that the means for heating the connection material 25and so forth is not limited to the hot blast 36. A heater (not shown)may be provided inside the upper roller 32a so that the roller 32a has asurface temperature of about 200° C.

(3) The stack of the substrate 24, the connection material 25 and so onis continuously fed between the pressure rollers 32a and 32b at thevelocity v. The stack is then integrated by applying a pressure by meansof the pressure rollers 32a and 32b, so that a laminate 55 comprisedsubstantially of four layers 35, 25, 7 and 24 is produced.

When the feed velocity v is set to a value not greater than 250 mm/min.,a reduced number of bubbles are involved, so that the laminate 55 isstably manufactured.

When the upper roller 32a is provided by a roller formed by coating thesurface of a metal core having a diameter of 100 mm or more with a coatof teflon or the like (not shown) by a thickness of 1 mm or less, anappropriate thermal uniformity is assured to scarcely incur imperfectadhesion of the connection material 32, and even if the connectionmaterial 25 protrudes out of the protection film 35, the connectionmaterial 25 does not stick to the surface of the upper roller 32a.

(4) Then, the protection film 35 is once peeled off via the guide roller33 in a manner as shown in FIG. 14B. In the above-mentioned state, driveICs 1 are successively mounted on the connection material 25 by amounting head 38a on a mounting stage 38b.

(5) Then, by means of a pair of upper and lower rollers 39a and 39b, theprotection film 35 is made to adhere again to the surface of theconnection material 25 over the drive ICs 1 in a manner as shown in FIG.14C. Thus an IC mounting tape 56 provided with a protection film isproduced. The protection film 35 can protect fine-pitch terminalportions.

Since the substrate 24 and the belt-shaped connection material 25 and soforth are continuously integrated in the lengthwise direction, theconnection material 25 can be supplied to the substrate 24 at a time.Therefore, the productivity can be increased to allow the manufacturingcost to be reduced in comparison with the case where the connectionmaterial is supplied to each individual flexible wiring board.

FIG. 15 shows another process for manufacturing the laminate 55. Thepresent process includes the following procedure.

(1) A film-like substrate 24 and a belt-shaped connection material 25are made to pass between guide rollers 31a and 31b in a stack in thelengthwise direction thereof. They are fed intermittently at intervalsof an integral multiple of the pitch of a flexible wiring board to befinally produced.

(2) While the feeding is stopped, the stack of the substrate 24, theconnection material 25 and so forth is integrated by applying heat andpressure to the stack on a stage 37b by means of a head 37a coated withPTFE. Through the above-mentioned process, a laminate 55 comprisedsubstantially of four layers 35, 25, 7 and 24 is produced.

When the pressure force of the head 37a is set within a range of 5 to 25kg/cm², the laminate 55 can be stably manufactured.

It is to be noted that the wiring layer 7 is supported by the substrate24 even though the wiring layer 7 has fine-pitch thin terminals andtherefore no such defect as terminal break occurs. However, if thepressure force is set to 25 kg/cm² or more, edges of the terminals arepossibly deformed (wire sagging) or the alignment marks are possiblydeformed.

As apparent from the above description, according to the panel assemblystructure of the present invention, a through hole having planedimensions smaller than plane dimensions of a IC chip is provided in thearea which belongs to a substrate surface of a flexible wiring board andare mounted with the IC chip. In addition, portions which belongsrespectively to an output side wiring line and an input side wiring lineand are connected respectively with an output side electrode and aninput side electrode of the IC chip are supported by the substratesurface around the through hole. Therefore, the portions can beprevented from being bent in the process of mounting the IC chip orother manufacturing processes. Therefore, the amount of protrusion fromthe substrate surface of the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line of the flexible wiring board can be reduced (the thicknessof the wiring layer is made thin) further than in the prior art. Theamount of protrusion can be set to 1.8×10.sup.×2 mm or less. When theamount of protrusion is set to such a reduced value, the output sidewiring line and the input side wiring line can be finished with highetching accuracy. Therefore, connection of the output side wiring lineand the input side wiring line respectively with the output sideelectrode and the input side electrode of the IC chip can be performedat a pitch finer than in the prior art. Furthermore, connection of anoutput terminal comprised of a part of the output side wiring line withan electrode terminal of a panel and connection of an input terminalcomprised of a part of the input side wiring line with an electrodeterminal of a wiring board can be also performed at a fine pitch.

On the other hand, the through hole is formed in the area in which theIC chip is mounted, whereby a superfluous substrate portion is removed.Therefore, the possible misalignment between the electrodes of the ICchip and the terminal portions of the wiring lines of the flexiblewiring board due to the influence of thermal expansion of the substratein the process of mounting the IC chip by thermocompression bonding isreduced. Therefore, an improved connection reliability is achieved.Furthermore, the residual stress of the substrate is also reduced, andtherefore the reliability of connection between the mutually oppositeterminals is further improved.

Furthermore, for example, by extending in a specified pattern a part ofthe wiring layer from on the substrate surface around the through holeto the inside of the through hole in the area of the through hole at thesubstrate surface of the flexible wiring board, an alignment markcorresponding to the IC chip is provided. In the present case, analignment mark is also provided at the IC chip, and alignment isachieved by observing both the alignment marks through theabove-mentioned through hole. Accordingly, there is no need to performthe positional alignment with the complicated system as in the priorart, thereby allowing the fine-pitch terminals to be aligned with eachother with high accuracy.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the secondconnection material for connecting the output side electrode and theinput side electrode of the IC chip respectively with the output sidewiring line and the input side wiring line of the flexible wiring boardis provided by solder. Therefore, the second connection material can besupplied to each IC chip in a wafer state before the wafer is dividedinto individual drive IC chips. When the second connection material issupplied to each IC in the wafer state, the material can be supplied ata lower cost than when it is supplied to each one in a chip state.Furthermore, rework (restoration of defective components) is facilitatedafter the IC chip is mounted on the substrate surface, consequentlyallowing the manufacturing cost to be reduced.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the secondconnection material is provided by an anisotropic conductive film.Therefore, the second connection material can be supplied to atape-shaped (sheet-shaped rolled) material before the tape-shapedmaterial is divided into individual flexible wiring boards. When thesecond connection material is supplied to the tape-shaped material, theconnection material can be easily automatically supplied at a cost lowerthan in the case where the connection material is supplied to each onein a chip form. Furthermore, when the second connection material isprovided by an anisotropic conductive film, the terminal material can beselected from various sorts of terminal materials to be used for theconnection in comparison with the case of solder. For instance, aninexpensive material of aluminum can be selected as a material for theoutput side wiring line and the input side wiring line of the flexiblewiring board, and consequently a reduced cost is achieved. Furthermore,by adopting an anisotropic conductive film as the first, second, andthird connection materials, an identical sort of connection material isused as the connection materials.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the first,second and third connection materials are provided by an identicalconnection material, and therefore the reliability of connectionportions using the first, second and third connection materials isadjusted to the same level. Furthermore, a plurality of connectionportions can be simultaneously connected by one connecting apparatus.Therefore, a reduced number of manufacturing processes is achieved.Further, the apparatuses necessary for obtaining a specified throughputis reduced in number, thereby allowing an investment cost for theequipment to be reduced. Further, as a result of the reduction in numberof apparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in the factory isreduced. Therefore, a remarkable cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the first,second and third connection materials are provided integratedly, andtherefore the first, second and third connection materials are suppliedto a normally rolled substrate simultaneously by one supply apparatus.Therefore, the manufacturing processes can be reduced in number.Further, the apparatuses necessary for obtaining a specified throughputcan be reduced in number, thereby allowing an investment cost for theequipment to be reduced. Further, as a result of the reduction in numberof apparatuses, the occupation area of the processes in the factory isreduced. Therefore, a substantial cost reduction can be achieved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, at least oneof the area in which the IC chip is mounted and the area in which theoutput terminal is formed, each area belonging to the flexible wiringboard, has a thickness smaller than the thickness of the other area ofthe substrate of the flexible wiring board. The above-mentionedarrangement leads to a reduction in temperature distribution in thedirection of the thickness of the area in the connecting process.Therefore, the temperature of heating is set low. When the temperatureof heating is set low, if a difference in coefficient of thermalexpansion exists between the panel and the flexible wiring boardconnected with each other or between the IC chip and the flexible wiringboard connected with each other, a residual stress due to the differencein coefficient of thermal expansion can be reduced after the connectingprocess. Furthermore, the fact that the thickness of the substrate ofthe flexible wiring board is thin can also reduce the total amount ofresidual stress. Therefore, the reliability of the connection portionsis improved.

According to the panel assembly structure of an embodiment, the paneland the wiring board are integratedly formed, and therefore connectionon the output side and the input side of the flexible wiring board issimultaneously performed by one connecting apparatus. Therefore, themanufacturing processes is reduced in number. Further, the apparatusesnecessary for obtaining a specified throughput can be reduced in number,thereby allowing an investment cost for the equipment to be reduced.Further, as a result of the reduction in number of apparatuses, theoccupation area of the processes in the factory can be reduced.Therefore, a remarkable cost reduction is achieved.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, a film-likesubstrate extending in one direction is provided, and IC chips aremounted on a substrate surface of the substrate in one or a plurality oflines in the lengthwise direction of the substrate. Therefore, the tapecan be easily manufactured automatically continuously. In other words, aconnection material for connecting the output side wiring line and theinput side wiring line respectively with the output side electrode andthe input side electrode of each IC chip, a connection material providedon the output side wiring line and the input side wiring line for theconnection thereof with external electrodes, and members such as ICchips are continuously supplied onto the film-like substrate. Theabove-mentioned process is easily automated. Consequently, an increasedproductivity is achieved to allow the manufacturing cost to be reducedin comparison with the case where flexible wiring boards aremanufactured individually.

Furthermore, a through hole having plane dimensions smaller than planedimensions of the IC chip is provided in the area which belongs to asubstrate surface and in which the IC chip is mounted, while theportions which belong respectively to the output side wiring line andthe input side wiring line and are connected respectively with theoutput side electrode and the input side electrode of the IC chip aresupported by the substrate surface around the through hole. Therefore,the portions can be prevented from being bent in the process of mountingthe IC chip or other manufacturing processes. Therefore, the amount ofprotrusion of the output side wiring line and the input side wiring linefrom the substrate surface is reduced (the thickness of each wiring lineis made thin) further than in the prior art. The amount of protrusioncan be set to 1.8×10⁻² mm or less. When the amount of protrusion is setto such a reduced value, the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line are finished with high etching accuracy. Therefore,connection of the output side wiring line and the input side wiring linerespectively with the output side electrode and the input side electrodeof the IC chip can be performed at a pitch finer than in the prior art.Furthermore, connection of the output side wiring line and the inputside wiring line with external panels of various sorts and the like canbe also achieved at a fine pitch.

On the other hand, the through hole is formed in the area in which theIC chip is mounted, whereby a superfluous substrate portion is removed.Therefore, the possible misalignment between the electrodes of the ICchip and the output side wiring line and the input side wiring line dueto the influence of thermal expansion of the substrate material in theprocess of mounting the IC chip by thermocompression bonding is bereduced, so that the connection reliability is improved. Furthermore,the residual stress of the substrate is also reduced, and therefore thereliability of connection between the mutually opposite terminals isfurther improved.

Furthermore, for example, by extending in a specified pattern a part ofthe wiring layer from on the substrate surface around the through holeto the inside of the through hole in the area of the through hole at thesubstrate surface, an alignment mark corresponding to the IC chip can beprovided. In the above-mentioned case, an alignment mark is alsoprovided at the IC chip, and alignment is achieved by observing both thealignment marks through the above-mentioned through hole. Accordingly,there is no need to perform the positional alignment with thecomplicated system as in the prior art, thereby allowing the fine-pitchterminals to be aligned with each other with high accuracy.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, one or a pluralityof the connection materials are belt-shaped, and provided in thelengthwise direction of the substrate and each connection materialcorresponds to at least one line of IC chips. Therefore, the connectionmaterial can be supplied at a time in the lengthwise direction of thesubstrate in the manufacturing process. Therefore, an increasedproductivity is achieved to allow the manufacturing cost to be reducedin comparison with the case where the connection material is supplied toeach individual flexible wiring board.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, a terminal connectedto the output side wiring line or the input side wiring line is providedoutside the area in which the belt-shaped connection material isprovided on the substrate surface. Therefore, by using the terminal asan inspection terminal and putting a probe pin for electrical inspectionin contact with the terminal (inspection terminal), a function test ofthe IC chip and a connection test of the connection portions areperformed in the middle of the assembling process. When a defectivecomponent is extracted as a result of each test, removal or rework isperformed in early stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is totallyreduced.

According to the IC mounting tape of an embodiment, the output sidewiring line, the input side wiring line, and the belt-shaped connectionmaterial are provided on one surface of the substrate, while a terminalconnected to the output side wiring line or the input side wiring lineis provided on the substrate surface opposite from the above-mentionedone substrate surface. The terminal is provided compactly on the rearside of the substrate for the output side wiring line and the input sidewiring line without increasing the area of the substrate noraccompanying cost increase. By using the terminal as an inspectionterminal and putting a probe pin for electrical inspection in contactwith the terminal (inspection terminal), a function test of the IC chipand a connection test of the connection portions can be performed in themiddle of the assembling process. When a defective component isextracted as a result of each test, removal or rework is performed inearly stages. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be totally reduced.Furthermore, after the substrate is divided into individual flexiblewiring boards, the above-mentioned terminal can be used as an inspectionterminal with the board connected to any of various external panels andthe like. In other words, a panel of each sort c an be compactlyassembled with provision of the inspection terminal.

According to the IC mounting tape manufacturing method of the presentinvention, a substrate and one or a plurality of belt-shaped connectionmaterials are fed in a stack in a lengthwise direction thereof onto aspecified stage, and then subjected to a heating or pressure applyingprocess, or a heating and pressure applying process an the stage, sothat the substrate and the belt-shaped connection material areintegrated continuously in the lengthwise direction. Therefore, theconnection material can be supplied at a time in the lengthwisedirection of the substrate. Therefore, an increased productivity isachieved to allow the manufacturing cost to be reduced in comparisonwith the case where the connection material is supplied to eachindividual flexible wiring board.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated circuit mounting tape including:afilm-like substrate which has flexibility and extends in one direction;one or a plurality of continuous lengths of a connection materialextending in a lengthwise direction of the substrate on thesubstrate'surface; and a plurality of integrated circuit chips mountedon a surface of the substrate and arranged in one or a plurality oflines in a lengthwise direction of the substrate, each of saidintegrated circuit chips having an output side electrode and an inputside electrode connected via one of said connection material lengthswith an output side wiring line and an input side wiring line,respectively, provided on the surface of the substrate, wherein each ofsaid integrated circuit chips being mounted in one of a plurality ofareas of the surface of the substrate of the integrated circuit mountingtape provided with a through hole having plane dimensions smaller than aplane dimensions of the integrated circuit chip, and wherein portions ofthe output side wiring line and the input side wiring line connected,respectively, with the output side electrode and the input sideelectrode of the integrated circuit chip are supported by the face ofthe substrate around the through hole.
 2. An integrated circuit mountingtape as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substrate surface includes aplurality of output side wiring lines and input side wiring linesextending on mutually opposite sides of each of the integrated circuitchips mounted on the substrate surface.
 3. An integrated circuitmounting tape as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection material isan anisotropic conductive film.
 4. An integrated circuit mounting tapeincluding:a film-like substrate which has a flexibility and extends inone direction; and integrated circuit chips which are mounted on asurface on the substrate and arranged in one or a plurality of lines ina lengthwise direction of the substrate, said integrated circuit chipseach having an output side electrode and an input side electrodeconnected respectively with an output side wiring line and an input sidewiring line provided on the surface of the substrate each via aconnection material, wherein an area which belongs to the surface of thesubstrate of the integrated circuit mounting tape which each of theintegrated circuit chips is mounted is provided with a through holehaving plane dimensions smaller than plane dimensions of the integratedcircuit chip, and portions which belongs respectively to the output sidewiring line and the input side wiring line and are connectedrespectively with the output side electrode and the input side electrodeof the integrated circuit chip are supported by the surface of thesubstrate around the through hole, and wherein one or a plurality of theconnection materials are belt-shaped, and provided in a lengthwisedirection of the substrate, said each connection material correspondingto at least one line of the integrated circuit chips.
 5. An integratedcircuit mounting tape as claimed in claim 4, whereina terminal connectedto the output side wiring line or the input side wiring line is providedoutside the area which belongs to the surface of the substrate and inwhich the belt-shaped connection material is provided.
 6. An integratedcircuit mounting tape as claimed in claim 4, whereinthe output sidewiring line, the input side wiring line, and the belt-shaped connectionmaterial are provided on one surface of the substrate, and a terminalconnected to the output side wiring line or the input side wiring lineis provided on a surface of the substrate opposite from the one surfaceof the substrate.
 7. An integrated circuit mounting tape as claimed inclaim 4, wherein the connection material is an anisotropic conductivefilm.